COLLEGE PARK, Md. — The University of Maryland School of Public Policy’s Roger C. Lipitz Health Policy Group has released a new policy paper written by Jack Meyer on health policy reforms and the U.S. labor force.

Meyer is a former School of Public Policy faculty member and independent consultant specializing in health care research and policy analysis. In his paper, “Health Policy Reforms to Fit the Modern U.S. Labor Force and Address Underlying Cost Drivers,” Meyer explores how changes in the labor force can create challenges for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

He also notes that this creates a need to introduce new methods to improve current health care coverage. Using reforms within the state of Maryland as examples, Meyer provides potential policy solutions to some of the most critical issues blocking Americans from affordable health care.

“While the debate over mandates and Medicare for all continues, we need to find an analytically and politically viable approach to make health coverage available and affordable for millions of uninsured Americans,” Meyer says. “Expanding health coverage will be more affordable if we address the fundamental cost drivers.”

This paper is the first of a series commissioned by the newly-created Roger C. Lipitz Health Policy Group, established by the School of Public Policy with generous support from Roger C. Lipitz.